Wanting a say in their community I want to tell people why we are almost unanimously opposed to the proposed rezoning and development in the Santa Susana Knolls. This is not a community of rich people trying to avoid the riffraff of apartment dwellers. In fact, the average income is probably lower than in most of Simi Valley. The Knolls is unlike any other hillside community in Simi Valley. The difference is in the mix of houses and people. I saw a program about the unincorporated community of Caspar in Northern California. Using a consensus approach, the townspeople are working with the county to determine their future. They are not saying no to all development. They realize property owners have a right to make a fair profit from their property. But they are making sure the whole community is involved from the start, so all can live with the result. We would like a similar involvement to determine the future of our community. The developer, Gary Gorian, says he wants to "work with us." But his idea of working with us seems to be to let us help decide what style he should build his apartments. His idea of consensus-building seems to be to try to "influence" those adjacent to the development with the prospect of adding square footage to their property in exchange for their support against the whole community. We are not saying we want no development on "the ranch." But we want something that will be a part of our community, with people who will not just live next to us, but be our neighbors. We want something with imagination, to match that of our artists and craftspeople. The landowner can make a fair profit, in fact a very good return on his investment even with the existing zoning. -- Ken Piper, Santa Susana Knolls |